| Mine Action Budget Request, Non-Detectable Landmines, Tsunami-Tossed Landmines... In this edition. . .
After five years of proudly housing and coordinating the US Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), Physicians for Human Rights handed over coordination of the Campaign to another organization in the coalition: the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). FCNL is a non-partisan Quaker peace and justice organization that has been, for many years, one of the leading groups in this country advocating for the US government to join the Mine Ban Treaty and sustain high levels of support for demining and victim assistance. FCNL also previously served as chair of the campaign. Physicians for Human Rights will remain an active member of the USCBL Steering Committee. The web site for the USCBL remains the same: www.banminesusa.org. If you can't find what you're looking for on the web site, including our new "For more information" section, you can email the new Coordinator, Scott Stedjan at landmines@fcnl.org. All future checks to the USCBL should be made out to "Friends Committee on National Legislation" (if you would like your contribution to be tax-deductible, it should be made out to FCNL Education Fund). Write "USCBL" or "landmines" in the memo of the check. The FCNL address is 245 Second Street, NE/ Washington, DC, 20002-5795. Secure on-line donations can be made at www.banminesusa.org. FY 2006 U.S. Mine Action Budget Request On February 7, 2005, the Bush administration sent its fiscal year 2006 (FY 06) budget request to Congress. While many domestic human needs programs were drastically cut, the total foreign aid budget was raised by 19% over last year. As expected, the budget for mine action was increased as well. One of the components of the Bush administration’s landmine policy, announced in February 2004, was a pledge to increase the State Department’s portion of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program 50% over FY 03 baseline levels. The FY 06 budget is the first budget that implements this pledge. U.S. programs for humanitarian mine action are primarily run through the State and Defense Departments and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The following program budgets were submitted to Congress by the administration. Congress is expected to make the final decisions on the budget in the late summer or early fall. The administration may request additional funds for mine action in supplemental appropriations bills for Iraq, Afghanistan or tsunami relief. State Department FY 2005 – $59.5 million (appropriated) International Trust Fund FY 2005 – $9.92 million (appropriated) View the entire State Department budget. Defense Department FY 2005 – $10 million (appropriated) Defense Department Research & Development
Funding FY 2005 – $13.4 million (appropriated) View the entire Defense Department budget. USCBL Urges U.S. Leadership Toward a Mine-Free World In response to the failure of the Bush administration to send a delegation to the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World last year, the USCBL sent letters expressing frustration to the Senate and Secretary of State Powell. The letters urge the U.S. government to rethink its landmine policy and begin to exercise leadership toward a mine-free world. Click here to view the letters. United States Bans Non-Detectable Landmines (State Department press release) Office of the Spokesman The United States has become the first major military power to terminate its use of any landmines that cannot be located with the standard metal detectors used by military and humanitarian deminers around the world. "The U.S. landmine policy recognizes that non-detectable landmines pose a particularly insidious threat to humanitarian deminers as well as innocent civilians in a post-conflict environment," remarked Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., the Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action who also serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. "Our action meets the first major goal in our new policy, which forswears the use by the United States of non-detectable mines now and all persistent mines after 2010." This prohibition on the use of non-detectable landmines covers both anti-personnel as well as anti-vehicle mines. The United States action surpasses the detectability requirements of both international landmine treaties: the Amended Mines Protocol to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons to which the United States is a party, and the "Ottawa Convention" which relates to anti-personnel mines. To learn more about United States landmine policy and the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra. Actress Angelina Jolie Angered and Disgusted by U.S. Landmine Policy Sue Wixley, International Campaign to Ban Landmines Angelina Jolie, Oscar-winning U.S. actress, says she's "ashamed" that her government has failed to join up to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. She was interviewed by the BBC shortly after the historic Nairobi Summit for a Mine-Free World last year. "It's angering that not everybody has signed this treaty to ban landmines. It's disgusting, it really is, because it is fact that (mines) hurt a high percentage of civilians. They're not effective in any other real way. They've enough weapons for war," said Jolie. Jolie was inspired to take up the cause against landmines after she saw their devastating consequences in Cambodia, the location of her Tomb Raider film. Since then, the actress has supported the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its work, became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations, and received several awards for her work for world peace. To watch Jolie’s interview for the BBC HardTalk Extra programme or find out what she had to say click here. Tsunami-Tossed Landmines Add to Peril LENNOX SAMUELS, Staff Writer KALLADY, Sri Lanka - On Dec. 26, the tsunami overran man-made sand berms and raged ashore, scattering the mines around the area. Now, nature and humans have combined to create an additional hazard for the besieged residents in this suburb of the eastern city of Batticaloa. De-miners from the Army and a non-governmental group have recovered 71 mines, but the balance remain unfound, a risk to adults and children returning to salvage their lives. So far, only a cow has been injured, but officials are concerned that people could fall victim to the small plastic devices that are designed to maim. "We're very concerned about the people in that area, but we're in a Catch-22," said Daniel A. Rollins, district technical field manager of Mines Advisory Group. "Our guys have cleared a lot of mines, but we're approaching the point where we will have accidents due to inattention and exhaustion."... Lt. Lalith Ratnayake, of the Army de-mining unit, said the Kallady mines were laid to protect troops at the camp, which is still active, with 300 soldiers. He stressed that the military has not planted any mines since the ceasefire agreement, but conceded that he was concerned about the devices showing up along the beach, in the village and near the school. "After the tsunami, all the land mines planted near the camp floated all over the place, with no identifiable pattern," he said. "We hope to clear the area within two weeks' time." Ultimately, 135 acres will be de-mined and cleared of debris. To see the full article go to: www.dallasnews.com As the worldwide mine ban movement prepares to embrace the challenges that lie ahead on the road to a "mine free world", the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Executive Director, Anne Capelle. Anne Capelle (39, Belgian) is a trained physiotherapist and worked with Handicap International (HI) for four years, both in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and in Angola, where she discovered the horror and extent of the landmine problem. From 1996 to 2000 she worked as coordinator of the Handicap International Mines Unit and was very actively involved in the work of the ICBL and participated in the establishment of the Landmine Monitor. After two years spent as director of communication and development for HI, she went to establish the UNMAS liaison office in Geneva. In 2004, she worked for Landmine Survivors Network where she was in charge of the "Raising the Voices" program culminating in the organization of the Survivor Summit in Nairobi and the survivors participation to the Review Conference of the Ottawa Treaty. On 24 January, she took over from the outgoing coordinator, Liz Bernstein, in coordinating the activities of a network of 1,400 organizations working to rid the world of the plague of landmines. For more information about the US Campaign to Ban Landmines or to donate on-line, please see our website at www.banminesusa.org US Campaign to Ban Landmines To stop receiving these updates and action alerts, please write to landmines@fcnl.org from the email address that receives the newsletter and ask us to take you off the list. |
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